Google, Meta and TikTok Sue California Over Gavin Newsom's Law Restricting Addictive Social Media Features for Children

Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG)/a> (NASDAQ:GOOGL)/a> Google, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META)/a> and ByteDance's TikTok are asking a federal court to block California’s latest effort to limit addictive social media features available to children.

The companies filed separate lawsuits Wednesday, challenging California Assembly Bill 1709, according to The Guardian. The lawsuits invoke First Amendment protections and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which generally shields platforms from liability for user-generated content.

In the lawsuit, Meta argued that California cannot restrict its editorial decisions while allowing rival platforms to offer similar services, while TikTok said that protected speech "cannot be suppressed solely to protect the young" from content lawmakers deem unsuitable, the report noted.

Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general and the lawsuits’ sole defendant, said his office was reviewing the filings. "Our office is committed to defending California’s commonsense laws to protect kids online," said Bonta, according to the report.

A spokesperson for the Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta told the New York Times that the law would let the government "dictate how ideas are organized, displayed or shared," while limiting Meta’s ability to recommend age-appropriate content and forcing it to remove related features.

Meanwhile, a Google spokesperson told the NYT it has already introduced safeguards for minors on YouTube, including disabling autoplay on children’s accounts and allowing parents to turn off Shorts.

Meta, Google, and TikTok did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments./p> div class="bz-read-next-block" data-variant="card" data-news-mode="manual" >

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California Expands Child Safety Laws

The lawsuits come after California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation in September aimed at protecting children under 16 from addictive social media features and strengthening safeguards for companion AI chatbots. It also included crisis-response guidelines for chatbots handling suicidal tendencies and parental controls, broadening California’s technology oversight beyond traditional social media platforms.

The legislation expands child sexual exploitation laws to cover AI-generated or digitally altered explicit content involving minors. It also bans addictive social media features for children under 16 and imposes a four-year ban on AI chatbot-powered toys for children.

Tech Giants Face Growing Scrutiny

In August, Meta reached a broad settlement with 29 U.S. states requiring teen usage limits, nighttime restrictions, stronger age verification and expanded parental controls across Facebook and Instagram. The deal includes up to $17 billion tied to state claims, with Meta estimating total payments of about $18 billion over 10 years, including a separate $1 billion Texas settlement.

Recently, Meta, TikTok and Elon Musk's X lost their legal challenge against U.K. regulator Ofcom over information requests seeking data on content moderation, harmful content exposure and posts removed or restricted under the Online Safety Act.

In September, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT)/a>, the AFT and UFT, agreed on a new AI safety and privacy standard for schools, establishing legally enforceable protections against student data misuse, tracking and AI-driven decisions without human oversight. School districts can incorporate the requirements into Microsoft contracts.

Price Action: Year-to-date, Meta and Alphabet's Class C (GOOG) have declined 8.33% and 10.22%, respectively, as per Benzinga Pro.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors./p> div class="bz-read-next-block" data-variant="card" data-news-mode="manual" >

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